Organizational Structure

Coastside CERT is a 100% volunteer organization. We are a registered and certified California 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with an operating budget funded entirely by donations from our community.  Our fiscal sponsor is the Coastside Fire Protection District. 

Coastside CERT is officially registered with FEMA and the State of California with the following details.

• Program: Coastside CERT Branches 1 and 2 (operating jointly)

• Sponsor and Fiscal Agent: Coastside Fire Protection District

• Sponsor Point of Contact: Unit Chief Nate Armstrong

• Program Manager and Lead Instructor: San Mateo County Department of Energy Management Supervising Emergency Coordinator David Cosgrave (since 1999)  

• Program Coordinator: Cynthia Sherrill (since 2019)

• Leadership Team: Coastside CERT's all-volunteer Leadership Team is composed of nine individuals. There is significant overlap in duties as we are a start-up. Redundancy is a necessity to ensure each critical role is always covered despite ongoing professional and personal responsibilities, illness, and travel.

  • David Cosgrave: SMC DEM Supervising Emergency Coordinator, 33 years with fire services on the Coastside before retiring as Division Chief in July, 2022. Coastside CERT's Program Management & Lead Instructor, newsletter author, and X (formerly Twitter) master.  dcosgrave@smcgov.org

  • Cynthia Sherrill: Full-time Program Coordinator, including Leadership Team coordinator, volunteer coordinator, planning, communications administrator, newsletter editor, recruiting, Basic CERT & LISTOS training coordinator, website, calendar, compliance manager, interagency bridge builder & coordinator, insurance administrator, event coordinator, training & event equipment manager, supplies purchasing & inventory manager, mapping team oversite, fundraising, grant writer & administrator, mutual aid responder & dispatch coordinator, SOP editor, graphics coordinator, certificated Hybrid CERT instructor.  coastsidecert@gmail.com

  • Michele Duke: Retired information technology professional, Coastside CERT roster data manager primarily responsible for entering new members, updating contact data and certification status, and removing inactive members. Michele creates and distributes the 32 neighborhood rosters, documents neighborhood leads, and supports neighborhood safety networks. Michele is an El Granada neighborhood co-data manager, protector of data privacy, fundraising correspondence writer, eagle-eyed communications proofreader, mapping team coordinator, and website editor.  datamanager@coastsidecert.com

  • Jennifer Goshorn: Chief Administrative and Compliance Officer at an international business law firm headquartered in the Bay Area. Coastside CERT's Advanced CERT Training (ACT) coordinator, Frenchman's Creek neighborhood co-lead, primary SOP writer, certificated CERT instructor, provides fundraising support, serves as mutual aid dispatch coordinator, training photographer and video creator, writer, editor, assists with many leadership and administrative tasks involved with running the Coastside CERT program.  fcprepared@gmail.com 

  • April Larsen: Global sales organization tech executive. El Granada neighborhood co-lead, event coordinator, and mutual aid responder. 

  • Matt Linton: Professional critical incident manager in the tech industry. Certified CERT instructor with 27 years of experience in both professional and volunteer fire & rescue roles. 

  • Scott Pyne: High-tech entrepreneur with his own start up. CERT Radio Officer, East Miramar neighborhood co-lead, certified CERT instructor,  Ham radio emergency responder, Coastside CERT backup data manager.  scott@miramarcert.org

  • Carolyn Tillie:  Author, artist, and art, craft, and food history researcher & lecturer. Creative polymath with computer graphics skills, Montara neighborhood co-lead, certified CERT instructor, event manager, Mailchimp message creator, graduation certificate maker, assists with fundraising, Facebook account manager.  montara@coastsidecert.com

  • Forrest Wonderlich: Retired software designer and engineer, Forrest works closely with Michele as our primary data management team at the communications heart of Coastside CERT. Formats and sends Coastside CERT Mailchimp messages and safety alerts. The mastermind behind CERT's ability to send a safety message to more than 2,000 Coastside residents within minutes and also to send messages to specific audience subsets: all CERTs, all Hams, specific neighborhoods, etc.  Currently writing a new program to increase the stability, programmability, and security of our database.  datamanager@coastsidecert.com 

• 501(c)(3) Officers:

  • President David Cosgrave

  • Secretary April Larsen

  • Treasurer Cynthia Sherrill

• Mailing Address:  Coastside CERT, 1191 Main Street, Half Moon Bay, California 94019

• Offices: Coastside CERT does not have offices per se. We accomplish most of our executive, administrative, and coordination work from our homes, communicating frequently via, text, email, phone, and Zoom. In-person meetings and training sessions usually occur at Coastside Fire Station 40, 1191 South Main Street, Half Moon Bay, and occasionally at other public and private locations.

• Email Address: coastsidecert@gmail.com

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coastside.cert.75

• X (formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com/CoastsideCert

Mission Statement 

Coastside CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) is an emergency preparedness volunteer organization focused on creating a ready and resilient community along the San Francisco Bay Area coast from the southern side of the Tom Lantos Tunnel (Devil’s Slide) to Tunitas Creek Road. We work to protect our own, our families, and our neighbors' lives, the environment, and property through emergency preparation, disaster response, emergency first aid and rescue actions, and public education. 

Program Implementation

Our goal is to create a prepared and resilient community that will have an orderly and calm response to an emergency, disaster or prolonged utilities disruption. Additionally, we connect neighbors so that the community works cohesively and effectively together. Coastside CERT accomplishes these goals with a core leadership team supporting dual synergistic programs:

1. Delivering free training for

   • Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)

   • Listos Program

2. Coordinating Neighborhood Emergency Preparedness 

Our training program ensures that, when officially activated, our CERTs will be the source of reliable, actionable information for first responders and be visible and useful resources for the neighborhoods.

Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program

CERT is a national program that trains the general public in basic disaster preparedness, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations. Here on the Coastside, Chief Cosgrave also covers hazards specific to our coastal community.

Coastside CERT provides free basic emergency preparedness training program, advanced CERT courses, refresher courses, and special topic presentations. For information about our 2024 training opportunities, please see our Home Page. 

LISTOS Program

LISTOS (www.cfalistos.org) is a state-wide grassroots disaster preparedness program that can be tailored to meet the individual needs of Spanish-speaking and Chinese and senior communities. Family-oriented and taught in multiple languages, the program is delivered in a format that is both culturally and linguistically appropriate for the target population. Classes are held in person and via Zoom. 

Neighborhood Emergency Preparedness 

Coastside CERT’s Neighborhood Emergency Preparedness is a local, homegrown grassroots program that relies on community involvement. Neighborhoods are meeting to define their own priorities and organize themselves around three objectives:

1. Prepare each residence. This focuses on basic emergency preparation and hazard mitigation.

2. Meet your neighbors before a disaster and create an emergency response plan for each block and neighborhood. This includes neighbors helping neighbors, rally points and a communication plan with first responders.

3. Implement resilient shelter-in-place resources. This includes, but is not limited to, alternative power sources, water purification, telecom microgrids.

We encourage all levels of participation:

1. Don’t have any spare time? Prepare yourself with:

   • Water — 1 gallon per day per person (don’t forget your pets!)

   • Food — items that don’t need to be refrigerated or cooked (don’t forget your pets!)

   • First aid kit — including prescription and over-the-counter medications & pet meds

2. Can check on your immediate neighbors? Coordinate with your Block Captain.

3. Can help disseminate information to your block? Volunteer to be a Block Captain.

4. Can facilitate meetings in your neighborhood and liaise with Coastside CERT and other neighborhoods? Volunteer to be a Neighborhood Lead.

We can’t do everything at once, but we can make progress towards resilience in small, coordinated steps, emphasizing common sense communications, cooperation, resource management, and risk mitigation. 

As of December 23, 2023 our neighborhood overview is:

• 32 neighborhoods

• 2,293 members in the roster

• 423 CERTs 

• 144 Hams 

• 56 Neighborhood Leads

For more details on each neighborhood, please see the Roster Summary spreadsheet and our Neighborhoods > Get Involved page. 

Why is Emergency Preparedness Important?

Local Sister CERT Organizations

Coastside CERT fits into a larger regional network of adjoining CERT organizations:

Program: South Coast CERT (Branch 3) 

• Area: Covers south of Tunitas Creek, including San Gregorio, Pescadero, La Honda, and Loma Mar. 

• Sponsor and Fiscal Agent: La Honda Volunteer Fire Brigade

• Program Manager: Pat O'Coffey

• Coordinator: Kathleen Moazed

 Program: South Skyline CERT (Branch 4)

• Area: Runs above Branch 3 south along Hwy 35 to the Santa Cruz County Line.

• Sponsor and Fiscal Agent: La Honda Volunteer Fire Brigade

• Program Manager: Pat O'Coffey

• Coordinator: Tom Hempel

 Program: Kings Mountain CERT 

• Area: Kings Mountain CERT territory runs east along Hwy 35 above Woodside.

• Sponsor and Fiscal Agent: Kings Mountain Volunteer Fire Brigade

• Program Manager: Jon Fredrikson

• Coordinator: Kim Ohlund

Other regional CERT Programs:

• Pacifica CERT

• Central County Fire CERT (Hillsborough, Burlingame, Millbrae)

• San Mateo Consolidated Fire CERT (San Mateo, Foster City, Belmont)

• Highland CERT (upper San Mateo)

• Woodland/Portola Valley CERT

Other Local Volunteer Organizations

CERT is just one of many local volunteer emergency response programs making a difference in our community. We coordinate with Coastside Emergency Action Plan (CEAP),  Half Moon Bay Amateur Radio Club (HMBARC),  Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES), Large Animal Evacuation Group (LAEG), Red Cross Shelter Operations Committee,  Peninsula Humane Society,  Disaster Airlift Response Team (DART), and Medical Reserve Corps (MRC), as well as local social service agencies. Coastside CERT liaises with and is working toward a unified emergency response plan with local and county government agencies.